Reducing perceived online shopping risk to enhance loyalty: a website quality perspective

The popularization of the Internet has made shopping through online stores and online auction websites increasingly common. Trends in online group purchasing and encouragement from social networks have changed consumption habits and shifted attention to the development of e-commerce. Previous studies have indicated that relative to physical stores, consumers still perceive higher risk in online shopping. The purpose of this study mainly aims to explore the importance of perceived risk in online shopping from a website quality perspective. A structural equation model is developed to test casual effects within a conceptual model. The empirical results show that (1) system quality and information quality do not have significant negative effects on perceived risk; (2) only e-service quality has a significant negative effect on perceived risk; (3) perceived risk has a significant negative effect on online loyalty; and (4) the negative relationship between perceived risk and online loyalty on consumer-to-consumer platforms will be stronger than that on business-to-consumer platforms. The managerial implications for online marketing managers and limitations are discussed.